Report by Stewards reporter

This was the second educational and cultural exchange between our schools. Pupils and teaching staff from Puistola School visited Stewards Academy in September 2015. Pupils from Stewards Academy stayed with the families of the Finnish children who they had hosted during the first exchange.

We had an easy journey to Helsinki and a quick journey to Puistola School. From there our pupils enjoyed their first night as guests with their Finnish hosts. On the Tuesday we were given a tour of Puistola School and a ‘welcome concert’. Finnish pupils gave us singing and dance performances which were both very impressive. Ms Murthar and Mr Hickman then had the opportunity to formally thank our hosts. We also talked about the similarities and differences between education in the UK and Finland. Finnish pupils were quite surprised to learn that most UK pupils wear a uniform, whereas Finnish pupils do not.

Part of our visit to Puistola School involved learning more about the Finnish language. Our Finnish hosts were very gracious and patient in helping us to pronounce Finnish words such as ‘moi’ or hello, correctly.

During Tuesday afternoon we were then taken to the fascinating Heureka Science Centre which is a short journey from Puistola School. The Heureka Science Centre is used by many schools in Helsinki and includes lots of very ‘hands on’ demonstrations and experiments. Our visit ended with a rather mesmerising visit to the Planetarium which took us on a tour through the solar system.

On the Wednesday we continued the educational theme with a visit to the Chemistry Department at the University of Helsinki. We were given a short lecture by two PhD students about the causes and problems created by acid rain. Pupils were then given the opportunity to use the Universities new and very impressively equipped laboratories to conduct experiments examining the problems of acid rain.
Thursday involved a brief tour around the beautiful centre of Helsinki, followed a visit by boat to Suomenlinna sea fortress, a UNESCO World Heritiage site. Suomenlinna is a small island known as the ’Fortress of Finland’ which was intially built to help Sweden (who ruled Finland for many years) to control the Baltic Sea. Shortly before we left for Suomenlinna, we saw the Finnish Prime Minister, Juha Sipilä, walking to work!

Sadly, Friday marked our last day in Puistola School. Our pupils had the opportunity to make traditional Finnish food which was delicious. We will be ever grateful and appreciative for the wonderful activities which our Finnish hosts arranged for us. Their hard work, generosity and detailed organisation made our visit one to remember and cherish.